I’m coming up on 10 years with my Trail! I was going to upgrade to something new but realized I’d never get the value out of it. I’d spend WAY more buying something new and the truck is worth more to me than the $20K (or so) I’d get selling it. It’s also really not that different from the 4Runners Toyota sells today.
Problem is, I really like cars. If I don’t spend some money on the 4Runner, I’m going to constantly think about buying something else. If I put some money into updates, I’m hoping it’ll satiate my need for something new... at least for a couple years.
Solution = Update the 4Runner
I’m about to upgrade to the TRD Pro Wheels and Fox Suspension (and get the full 100K mile service). I’m also replacing the drivers seat cushion and all the rubber on the window eaves(?) outside the car, which have started to deteriorate.
Toyota’s paint is notoriously terrible, particularly the single stage black paint. I’m going to do a full re-spray on the front bumper, hood, and fenders. The back bumper also has a couple of scratches, so I’m throwing that in for good measure.
I also want to update all the gray plastic trim pieces to the new painted versions. They’ve all faded to a light shade of gray and no amount of chemicals or dies are going to bring them back from the dead. It’ll become even more noticeable once I get the paint work done.
This is become a much bigger project than I realized. The existing trim pieces have a texture and cannot be painted. The older trim pieces (10-13) also have a slightly different design, so a lot of the underlying components will also need to be replaced. More significantly, both the front and rear bumpers will need to be replaced as they’re covered in the gray trim as well.
The rear bumper is an easy plug-and-play from an existing 4Runner Pro but they’ve obviously completely updated the front-ends starting in 2014.
For the front bumper, I’m looking to source either a Canadian market bumper cover or a bumper cover from a 2010 4-cylinder 4Runner. Both of these front bumpers use the same Trail design but are 100% painted (i.e. no gray trim and added bumper fascia).
This was a super long way to ask –
Has anyone attempted to do this before?
I’ll report back on progress either way. If nothing else, it should turn into a fun build project.